Romance Sub-genre(s): Action Romance/ Romantic Suspense
Steam Level: Medium (on the page, some naughty talk/actions, but not the chief plot point)
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Describe yourself in three words.
Coffee addicted dreamer
What are three fun facts about you?
1) I love to garden
2) I make horrible meatloaf
3) Japan is my trump card in Apples to Apples
What do you do for fun when you aren’t writing?
Aside from gardening, I enjoy learning and practicing languages and planning trips abroad.
How did you discover writing as a possible career?
Cause for Action started out as my Covid project in 2020 and many revisions later it's become 3 separate books. That's when I realized that I really liked writing and with my experience in marketing I could make this a career.
How did you choose your pen name?
Janette is my middle name. I wanted something I wouldn't forget to answer to.
Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
My chaotic mind tends to take a news article or something I read in History and then morph it into a book series.
What trope is your favorite to write?
Enemies to lovers
What is your favorite thing about being an author?
I get to create entire worlds and make up new people.
What is your writing process?
I'm a plantser. I start out with an outline but it tends to go off the rails so I end up re-outlining or just going with it.
What time of day are you most creative?
Evenings/nights
What is your ideal writing environment?
Honestly, a quiet corner where I can be uninterrupted.
As an author, what challenges do you face?
Shiny object syndrome. I can't write a short book to save my life. Everything always ends up spinning out into multiple books in a series, but I then get a great new idea and I still have like 12 books in the series I'm writing left to write.
What is your least favorite part of being an author?
The tasks that take me away from writing, like website management and taxes.
If there was one thing you could change about the writing/publishing industry, what would it be?
I don't like the dependency we have on one company. Especially with the company treating indie authors as second class to trad authors and there seems to be no way to fix the situation.
What advice would you give aspiring authors?
Don't try to do everything in the beginning. Build up to the bigger goals.
What is something you’d like to write, but haven’t yet?
Sci-fi/alien romance
Which parts of yourself are reflected in your characters?
Intelligence. I'm not a fan of the horror movie thing where you doubt whether the character is too stupid to survive.
Which of your characters have special meaning to you?
In Cause for Action, I think each of the ladies who make up Tellurian Goddess (their amateur band) mean something special but Diana (FMC) has a lot of growing as she progresses through the books and I like her character arch.
How do you come up with character names?
I bought a baby name book from the thrift store and I look through the list until I find a name that I feel fits the character.
What is something you love to hear from your readers?
I love that they're trying to figure out the little nuggets of information that I drop about the larger world. Many of the readers are trying to figure out the politics and allegiances within the world. (My book takes place as a mythical second civil war breaks out in the US).
When you read, which authors are your go-to authors?
Lee Child, Lynnea Lee, Penelope Wylde, Bella Blaire, Naima Simone
Where can readers find you online?
I'm on Facebook, Instagram, janettegellarbooks.com
Do you have any current ARCs or free downloads readers might be interested in?
I'm redesigning my website but yes, in the new year I will have my freebies posted.
What is your latest/upcoming release?
I'll be launching a new series called Bennett County Mountain Men. It's a why-choose romantic suspense set in a unique lifestyle rural Vermont community.
Closing Thoughts
I am currently published in the serial market but I will be expanding into audio serials in 2025. (Think audio books but for serial fiction).